SUI (Smart Urban Isle): Smart bioclimatic low-carbon urban areas as innovative energy isles in the sustainable city

The SMART URBAN ISLE (SUI) will be exploring how energy mini-ecosystems are integrated in the existing urban fabric, having as main objective to move forward with the urban energy savings through a whole new urban planning that allows cities to grow in a sustainable way. Moreover, it intends to enrich this point of view with a much bigger network of SUIs and therefore to develop the smart city concept considering an urban fabric of Smart Urban Isles (smart basic and optimal energy independent units).

A Smart Urban Isle is an urban area around a bioclimatic (public) building, having a smart energy network, which creates synergy between buildings and energy systems and makes use of the scale advantages for energy (storage) solutions. Two major results are expected to be solved are:

1. The SUI technical concepts: technical solutions for smart energy systems at community scale, where the focus is on the integration between building and network
2. The SUI implementation strategies

The Smart Urban Isle will be achieved through a three-cornerstone procedure. The project is formed by three complementary and integrated energy focused blocks:

1. Bioclimatic design system (Bioclimatic design of buildings and urban planning)
2. Management platform (Energy Management Systems to control and optimize energy flows)
3. Mini-networks (Mini networks include decentralised renewable energy generation, energy storage and distribution)

Consequently, an innovative new concept for city planning is developed, where cities are arranged and grow through small integrated areas. Moreover, this project is intended to be adapted to larger scales by connecting several facilities and even entire neighbourhoods, districts or cities. Thus building up complex systems out of SUIs.
The concept will be validated in cities in 8 cities from 6 countries (Spain, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Romania, Cyprus and Austria).

Project Coordinator: Prof. N. Papanicolas
Project Leader: Prof. Despina Serghides
Assistant Researcher: Stella Dimitriou

CyI SUI Project Website: http://www.cyi.ac.cy/index.php/sui-overview.html

More in this category: ZERO-PLUS, QUALICHeCK, SMART-GEMS

The authors would like to thank the EU and the Research Promotion Foundation for funding, in the frame of the collaborative international Consortium (SUI) financed under the ERA-NET Cofund Smart Cities and Communities Cofunded Call. This ERA-NET is an integral part of the 2014 Joint Activities developed by the Joint Programme Initiative Urban Europe (JPI Urban Europe).